Fireflies
by Malformed Entity
Summary: one shot Zellphie fluff comedy. A simple game of catching fireflies in the park bonds two friends just a little closer.


Written for the Zellphie Revolution. 8/8/08.

Enjoy?

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It was just another mid-July day; the flowers were fully bloomed, the hot humid air was filled with the smell of wet dirt and newly cut lawns. In the morning, the sun would beat on the sidewalk and warm the wet grass, while at night the air would become the perfect temperature. Lights would not be needed for the sky would always stay a pleasant hue of dark blue, casting a shadow on the grass below and creating another sky, filled with its own stars. Fireflies, they called them, but to Selphie, they were everything nature could offer.

"Look! There goes another one!" She squealed as she ran forward, trying to catch another glimpse of the blinking lights. The firefly disappeared into the night as quickly as it had become illuminated. It revealed itself again, in a complete different area.

"Squall, come on! Check this out!" Rinoa cried as the fireflies lighted in unison against the dark grass.

"They're annoying..." Squall grouched, swatting at a few that got too close. "What's so fascinating?"

"They're shiny!" Selphie smiled as another flew by her face. "Come here guys, there's a whole bunch on this side!" She loved how she could act like a small child in the summer, becoming so fascinated by the little things in nature. She quickly ran after a couple of newly spotted fireflies, hopping and skipping to the far side of the garden. She had wanted someone to come with her that night to see some fireflies at the park and Rinoa had agreed to come but brought Squall along with her.

"Come on Squall, it's supposed to be romantic." Rinoa frowned at the brunette and wrapped her arms around his torso. "Just look at it."

"Fine…" He sighed, giving into Rinoa's usual way of getting him to find his 'sensitive side'. The two of them sat on a bench in the park and smiled as they exchanged their love simply by sitting there in a warm embrace.

Selphie turned around to talk to Rinoa but found her raven-haired friend snuggled against a very quiet Squall. She gave them a smile and sighed happily. _They're so cute together… better leave 'em alone._ She commented to herself before going on with her merry little chase, feeling just a little bit colder, all alone in the cool night. That's when she found the biggest firefly of them all; she had to see this one up close! "I'm comin' to get you, lil buddy!"

"Get what?" Distracted by the firefly, she hadn't noticed that someone had jumped right in front of her. It wasn't until she stumbled onto the ground, bringing the person with her.

"Sorry!" She apologized while plucking a few blades of grass from her hair.

"Oh, its okay, Selph." Zell said as he dusted himself off. "What are you going here at night?"

"Oh it's you, Zell!" Selphie said excitedly as she stood up and fixed her jumper. She was extremely pleased that she had found her friend; she was beginning to feel a little lonely. "I'm just looking at that." She pointed at a couple of fireflies but by the time he turned his head to look, the fireflies had lost their glow.

"You're looking at a patch of grass?" He lowered his head to look at the grass while scratching the side of his head. "What's so special about grass?" A firefly made its way onto Zell's cheek and flickered its light. "AGH!!" He screamed as he found the bug squirming on his face.

"AHH!!" Selphie impulsively started screaming as well, not knowing why her companion was flailing around.

"AHH!!" Seeing her panic made him scream louder, swatting and slapping his own face but missing the bug every time. "B-Bug!!"

"Bug?" Selphie stopped her screaming and calmed Zell by catching him in the middle of all his flailing. "It's just a firefly!" She took the bug in her hand and let it fly away towards the stars. "I didn't know you were scared of fireflies."

"I-I'm not!" Zell's face shot through ten shades of red before he thought up an excuse. "Just didn't want it gettin' in my hair." He ran a hand through his hair and grinned. _Great job making a fool of yourself in front of Selphie! Now she'll never like you back. _She saw him desperately trying to cover up his fright and grinned as well.

"Sure Zell, whatever you say. If you're not scared then why don't you catch a few for me?" She challenged him, quickly catching a firefly of her own and showing it to him.

"You mean here? Like… right now?" Zell stuttered.

"Yes, right now. I just so happened to have a few jars by the bench." Selphie gestured her head towards the bench and made him follow her.

"Y-yea, no problem. I catch fireflies all the time." He tried to impress her while swatting at fireflies, trying to catch at least one.

"Uh… Sorry guys." She apologized as the two of them intruded on an intimate moment between their two friends. Selphie quickly reached behind the bench for the jars and ran away, leaving the two to their make out session. "Come on Zell." She tugged on his shirt.

"Okay! Here! Let's see who gets the most fireflies!" Selphie handed him a jar, reverting back to her childhood games. "And if I win, you have to do whatever I want you to do."

"What happens if I win?" Zell followed, grasping the jar in his hands. She turned to give a funny look. "… You don't think I'll win, do you?"

"Nope! I'm the best firefly catcher out there!" She twirled on the balls of her feet and winked at him. Simply watching her do that made him blush, good thing it was too dark for either of them to notice.

"Then that's not fair."

"Well, who said I'm fair? Tee-hee!" She stuck out a tongue like a child and ran off. "We'll start now! I'll be back in ten minutes!"

"Hey! FINE! But if I win, you have to do whatever_ I_ want!" He shouted, balling a fist and shaking it playfully at her. "Alright Zell, just catch a few fireflies and you can get her to go to the Garden Festival with you… and she can't refuse cuz YOU won!" He nodded and grinned, he really liked his plan. Except… he had no experience catching fireflies before and couldn't possibly catch more than Selphie. "Okay, okay. Just stay cool. Think of something…"

On the other side of the park, Selphie was already gathering up a bundle of fireflies. Her jar glowed so much that it seemed like she was holding a lantern. "Selphie, you've got this in the bag! Now, what do I want Zell to do…" She placed a finger on her chin as a grin grew on her face. "I'll get him to wear women's lingerie!" A loud chuckle escaped her. "Or maybe… I'll get him to… hehe… yes…"

"Okay, just… put it in there…" Zell desperately tried to place the one firefly he finally caught in the jar. He stuck his hand into the jar and let go, when he tried to remove his hand, the firefly managed to fly away while Zell struggled to get the jar off of his hand. "AGH!! I'M STUCK!" He fell over, swinging his arm to free his hand. He tumbled backwards and down a hill until he hit a couple of jars lying on the floor. A few younger teens were catching fireflies of their own, and they seemed to be experts. Jars were scattered all over the floor, almost like small garden lights in people's lawns.

"Hey guys!" Zell tried to get their attention while ripping the jar from his hand. "I'll give you ten gil for each jar full of fireflies."

"No way! The jars are worth more than 10 gil. What are you gonna do with the fireflies anyway?" One of them challenged Zell, standing on his tip toes to look taller.

"Alright, how much you want then?" Zell sighed.

"200 gil each." The kid smirked, folding his arms on his chest.

"No way! 200 gil? That's like 2400 all together!" He counted the 12 jars that laid on the floor and quickly disagreed. "50 each!"

"175!"

"60!"

"150!"

"NO! 75!"

"100! And that's my last offer!" The kid growled.

"Gr… fine!" Zell grumbled under his breath and reached into his pocket for 1200 gil and threw it into the kid's waiting hands. The child ran back to his two friends and laughed while Zell gathered up his jars. "Okay, it's totally worth it. 1200 gil for a date with Selphie? No prob." He reassured himself and carried his jars to where he had bumped into Selphie.

"Hehehe… It'll be a surprise…" He removed his vest and placed it over the jars of flashing fireflies.

"Well, Zell. Ready to lose?" Selphie appeared from behind him, holding a very gorged jar. There must have been at least 40 fireflies crammed into that little jar but Zell knew he had way more.

"Nope!" He grinned, dusting off his t-shirt.

"Where's your jar?" Selphie placed her collection on the floor and looked all around for another blowing jar. "You didn't catch any, did you?"

"You wish. Just watch!" Zell pulled his vest from the jars and grinned as the lights began to flicker and blink inside their jars. Selphie was dumbfounded, she quickly knelt by the enormous collection and let her jaw reach the floor.

"How'd you do it?!" She shook her head, it was impossible Zell could have caught so many.

"A little secret…" He looked at his glove and cocked his head. "Yea… I know I'm good."

Selphie's amazement faded as she figured out what he had done and a frown replaced her smile. "You bought them didn't you?"

Zell bounced off his feet. "W-wha?! N-no… What? … Tch... Maybe… Yes… how'd you know?" He pathetically tried to lie but ended up failing miserably.

"I saw those kids before; they were selling the jars for 5 gil each." Selphie snickered.

"WHAT?! 5 gil?! YOU MEAN THEY MADE ME PAY 20 TIMES THE PRICE?!" Zell exploded while trying to run back to the kids to get a refund.

"Tee hee! I told them not to sell them to anyone wearing gloves for less than 50 gil each. I guess they're really good at business!" She commented, giggling her way around the world.

"Whaa! That's not fair!" He pointed at her and stomped his feet like a child.

"Well, buying them wasn't exactly fair either!" Selphie crossed her arms and stuck out her tongue.

"Yea, but I still win!"

"No you don't! You have to CATCH them!"

"When did you say that? I would like to see legal documents!"

"Zell, you're an idiot! I win, give it up already!"

"No fair, you have more experience! I don't even like bugs!" Zell threw his arms in the air.

"Then why'd you lie?!" Selphie asked, throwing her hands into the air as well.

"TO IMPRESS YOU! W-whoops!" He recoiled, blushing. "I mean, c-cuz I wanted to!" The brunette smiled and pushed him playfully.

"Aw Zell, you don't have to impress me." She blushed, it was very flattering.

"Huh? Really?" A string of hope built inside of him as he watched Selphie giggling softly.

"Yea, I still think you're an idiot." She gave an innocent smile.

"Y-Yo!"

"I'm just kidding!" Selphie giggled, giving him another playful push. "I… well… you're not an idiot."

Zell sputtered in confusion as a strange silence fell upon them. His playful mood took over again, and he threw his head back, placing his hands on his hip and winked at Selphie. "So you must think I'm pretty awesome then?"

"Maybe…" She sniggered and gave him another innocent smile.

"Eh? What does that mean?"

"It means that I am the SUPREME MASTER OF FIREFLIES!" In their little fantasy world, the ground below Selphie turned into a throne and a group of fireflies formed a scepter and crown on her head. "MUHAHAH!"

"Does that mean you win?" He whispered, breaking Selphie out of her daydream.

"Yes, and because you cheated…" Selphie giggled. "I get to make you do _two_ things I want."

"WHAT?! SELPHIE THAT IS **SO** NOT FAIR! YOU-" Zell was cut off by her.

"First! You have to go on a date with me to the Summer Garden Festival." She grinned, moving closer to him as they both blushed.

"… well… I guess that ain't so bad…" He lied, it was the best thing that could happen to him! He inwardly whooped and did a victory dance but realized that Selphie always had a catch when she said something good.

"But, second…Tee hee…"

"Oh man…" He knew it was coming.

"You have to wear nothing but women's lingerie for two days afterwards. OUT IN THE OPEN."

"WHAT?! But-!" Zell's jaw dropped.

"NO BUTS ALLOWED! I WON!" Selphie jumped up in victory and laughed.

"Can it at least be wearing _your_ lingerie?" He asked jokingly but Selphie gave him a heavy smack anyway.

"I DON'T HAVE ANY LINGERIE!! You'll have to get Quistis to lend you a few." She stated matter-o-factly.

"QUISTIS?! WHAT?!"

"Don't make me regret asking you to go to the Summer Garden Festival!" She threatened, giggling to herself. She hadn't had this much fun with Zell since this time she taunted him with a hotdog for an entire hour.

"Okay. Yes ma'm." Zell saluted and zipped his mouth shut.

"Tee hee, that's more like it. Now… wanna see something really cool?" Selphie took Zell by his arm and brought him over to the jars of fireflies. "Keep the vest over them. Zell brought the vest over and placed it over the jars. "Okay." She placed her jar underneath the vest and opened the top through the cloth, along with all the other jars. "Here!" Selphie took the vest and tugged on it violently. All the caps on the jars flew off and all of the trapped fireflies began to fly briskly into the air.

"Whoa!" Zell stared in amazement as the fireflies twirled and flew around them as if they were performing a light show for them. Against the starry night, the fireflies truly seemed to glow as brightly as the stars above them. With their lemon-lime color, the lights flew in bunches as every little firefly was freed from their jars. It was like standing in the middle of the city with the lights flickering on and off. Selphie saw Zell turn slowly, watching as the lights flew into the sky. She took his hand and smiled as the blonde grinned at her, turning back only to appreciate the beautiful sight. Their faces glowed as brightly as the fireflies with a tint of red as Zell crept a little closer to Selphie.

A single firefly landed on Selphie's cheek this time, causing the girl to squirm and giggle as its little legs tickled her warm face. Everything was simply beautiful as the flies made their exit and scattered into the park. When Zell turned back to watch the girl beside him, he found the bug still on her face. His eyes widened and he opened his mouth to scream.

"AGH!! A BUG!!" Zell jolted into the air and grabbed the bug, crushing it in his hand. "AHH!!"

"ZELL! YOU KILLED IT!" Selphie jumped onto him, prying his hands open and whimpering at the sight of the bug's mangled body.

"IT'S A BUG!!" He hopped around, flailing his arm to get the dead firefly off as Selphie pounced on him, trying to get him to stop.

"STOP ZELL! WE HAVE TO GIVE IT A PROPER BURIAL!"

"AHH!!"

"Aw, isn't that cute, Squall?" Rinoa commented as she watched the whole scene in the comfort of her bench, snuggled against her lover.

"They're annoying…" He grumbled, earning a swat in the arm from Rinoa.

"Come on Squall, lets go so they can be alone some more!" She grabbed Squall and started running out of the park.

"Whatever…"

"Hey, Squall. Do you think Quistis really has lingerie?" Rinoa's mind wondered, causing her to blurt it out.

"……"

-

Good night to all. Hope you liked it. Zelphie rocks and don't you dare say it doesn't…

I wrote this 2 years ago, when the original Zellphie Revolution was supposed to take place. :) yay Zellphie. Please check out xSummonerYunax's fanfics too. We started this revolution to promote more Zellphie fanfics.


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